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Browse published articles attributed to Susan (Teacher Su) McKenzie, with full-archive search.
100 QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU GET MARRIEDr
AWESOME POWER We are more awesome than we often realize, and if you agree with Shakespeare you have at your fingertips an incredible thinking machine in your head. Shakespeare penned: there is nothing good or bad, except thinking makes it so. IN CHARGEr
The Island of Utopiar Freedom – the most misunderstood word in the English language If there was a poll to decide what is the most misunderstood word in the English language I think freedom might be high in the voting stakes. When there are millions of people how can we all live together without rules. Rules must be limits on freedom. Some types of speech and actions are very violent in nature but the extent of the limits of free speech is very controversial. No Free Love in Utopia
Have you thought about what is the greatest blessing? I think it is is the blessing of life, the miracle of life. Let us transform our life into a living blessing. Let us endow it with qualities that add to life, by being a blessing to ourselves and others. May we all be a blessing to ourselves and others. Here are a selection of blessings that do just that. THE GREATEST BLESSING B: Blessed with life, you should appreciate that to be alive is a beautiful blessing.r
THE BEST MARRIAGES How to have a match made in heaven. Here are the secrets for a successful marriage, however it takes two to believe in them. MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN In Islam marriage is a form of worship, a social obligation, an act highly admired by Allah SWT and a way of life (Sunnah) of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upo Him). BENEFITS TO MAN AND WORLD 1. Marriage is a life-long commitment and partnership. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) stated divorce was the most hated act of all lawful things in the sight of Allah.
BLESSINGS FROM THE WISDOM OF HAZRAT ALI B: Bear sorrows and calamities patiently, otherwise you will never be happy. (Hazrat Ali SA). L: Learning is one of the five pillars Hazrat taught: Learn to admit ignorance and learn what you do not know. E: Endurance and patience go hand in hand if you want to build the highest values and live the highest life. S: Sin is the only thing you should fear, so drive out sin with goodness. S: Success comes to those who are patient, although it may take a long time to reach you.
8 secrets of speaking like a native English Speaker. Are you prepared to do what it takes? 1. THE SECRET You have to be prepared to do what native speakers do. Are you prepared to do what native speakers do? 2. ENGLISH ENVIRONMENT English speakers have an English environment: radio, TV, newspapers, friends. In addition, they are advised to keep a daily journal (diary), have pen friends and read newspapers. Are you prepared to do this? 3. LEARN PHRASES ONLYr
SECRETS OF SUCCESSr
A touching true story of love I would like to share a true story about my mother. ENGLISH DOWRY We are one of the rare English families to get a daughter-in-law with a dowry. WE ARE NOT AMUSED Brother number 1 wanted to marry a Gujarati girl but her family were not amused. DANGEROUS DATE However, Gujarati girl wanted to marry him, so her family summ/ned my Mum and (Step) Dad for an interview/interrogation. UNCOMFORTABLE DISCOMFORT After hours of interrogation from many family members – they agreed subject to some conditions. LASTING IMPRESSIONSr
MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE Love it or hate it, we need money. Money is just a thing, although we have to admit a powerful thing. Thoughts are things, and money is a thing. We have a relationship with everything in this life and money is no exception. OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY Money is a fact of life – we cannot run away from it, but should we make money our God? – the end all and be all. Well whenever I have discussions about money, the concluding view is that we cannot really have a good life without money. In fact, life is often limited by the amount of money we have.
ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS Queen Shahrazad told a story every night to her husband and king, laced with lessons, morals and wise statements. STORY TIME The opening story is about a businessman who is on a business trip in a foreign land. RECKLESSNESS He sat down in a garden and carelessly threw away a date stone. Reckless actions have consequences and the date killed the son of a genie. VENGEANCE The genie wanted justice and for the businessman to forfeit his life. PROMISES KEPTr
DO YOU HAVE A MENTOR? Mentors can be from the past, present or even fictional. Shahrazad is strictly fictional but I feel she could be real – a composite character of realness, and she is my mentor because for me she is real. PARALLELS WITH LIFE Fiction can be so real because it draws upon real life. This is how it was in olden times or with a composite character – it is so real. DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS In olden times Kings had the divine right to execute their wives and if the Queen was unfaithful that was high treason and a capital offence. OFF WITH HER HEAD!r
A: Aim to be in state of blessed bliss as much as possible. Appreciate all the blessings you have. B: Believe in blessings and enjoy blessed bliss. C: Cover yourself in blessings. Clothe yourself with blessings. D: Determine to be a blessed person more. E: Enjoy all your blessings, because you have so many. F: Frames of mind are within our control. Frame your mind with blessings. Feast on blessings. G: Garner blessings from everywhere. Go for blessings, way to go. Gravitate towards more and more blessings.
WAYS TO CONNECT Facebook is a place to connect but is it a place for love? Facebook can certainly be a starting point; obviously it can’t be the ending point for love such as marital love. Also is it true or real love – is it sustainable and lasting love? Could Facebook be a good starting point for marital love? If we look at Western love – starting on Facebook cannot be worse than meeting in a bar or club. Numerous Western marriages start in bars, clubs and discos. BAR LOVEr
If you truly want love then you have to consider how you approach love. Make your relationship last with these 10 loving tips. 1. Find a way never to criticize – even the type that is believed to be constructive. Instead think of ways to help and support and just do it. Always have the mindset that there must be good reasons why they behave in the way they do.
WEB WARSr
DEATHLY TABOOS We live, we die. That is a fact of life. People worldwide refuse to talk about it, refuse to think about it and refuse to do anything about it. They brush it under the carpet. Do they think it will not happen to them! Wrong! We all die at some time and it is ostrich behavior not to make plans. Ostrich behavior: A person who refuses to face reality. There is a notion that ostriches hide from danger by burying their head in the sand. LIFE AND DEATHr
THE BENEFITS OF BEING GRATEFUL 1. Grateful souls are closer to God. Get closer to God when you are grateful. The soul that is always grateful lives in closer touch with God than those who never look to God in thankful acknowledgement. The mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come. 2. The whole mind benefits from gratefulness.
Mega Movement A new movement is developing and it has an acronym: MOOC. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Courses. How big it becomes is anyone’s guess but if it is free then it will attract legions. Think Again One of my friends encouraged me to get involved. He said he was taking Think Again: How to Read and Argue by Duke University. The platform is https://www.coursera.org/. The courses here are currently free and lead to a certificate or Statement of Accomplishment. Music to my ears: Free and a certificate! 1. FREE
The Yes "I am jobless" Camp by Faizan Laghari Jobless for over 10 yearsr I can only speak for myself in this regard. The fact of the matter is that I haven't had a job for 10 years now. Definition of Jobr As I always explain in my presentations, a "job" in my opinion is where I go for an interview, get hired, get a job description, and am told this is my department, my team, my manager and my boss (who I'll probably never meet often). I'm also told that XYZ is my salary and benefits each month.
A: Actively bless everyone, everything and Always remember to bless yourself as well. Avidly love to bless and Aim to bless as much as possible. B: Bless you, Bless you, Bless you. Blessings, Blessings, Blessings. BE BLESSED ALWAYS C: Compassion, Care, concern, conviality, and charity are blessings you can bestow on yourself and all living creatures. Creature comfort is a blessing you can bestow every day. D: Dare to dream big blessings for yourself and others. Dream your blessings into reality. E: Extreme benefits come from believing that your life is just one long blessing.
THE GREATEST INVENTION When we think about the top 100 inventions, the monetary system is likely to be on the list. Economic systems based on currency circulation facilitate the development of human society. Whatever we personally think of this medium of exchange, can it of itself generate happiness? The answer is in the word medium. It is an enabler but is not necessarily a direct source of happiness. TREASURE HOUSEr
Entrepreneurial Enterpriser As an employee at Ericsson Muhammad Nasrullah was creating massive telecom networks but he felt there weren't enough services, so he left and “came up with a mobile social network which would be a gateway into other services.” He became an entrepreneur and one of his startups was Pring. Social Ring “Pring is now Pakistan’s largest social network. We’re connecting Pakistanis on any handset with information and people they care about,” explains founder Muhammad Nasrullah. Users send over 12 million text messages daily. Change Agentsr
Sloppy Speech? Rehana Matri sparked a response when she expressed: I wish Muslims would stop speaking English sprinkled with Arabic terminology because every word that is in Arabic can also be said in English. Why this mix of language, it does not help anyone who is not learned in the Arabic language. Just read someone writing about the concept of Ibadah. What is Ibadah? Even if a Muslim knows the meaning of the word a non Muslim would stumble on the word and will have no clue what the article is all about. So why be so sloppy in your speech? Closer to Allahr
Founder and CTO of Pringit.com, Muhammad Nasrullah shares how he has kept his high tech start-up afloat and booming. Good ideas might seem to be the most challenging aspect of start-up success but getting it up and running and revving up to booming depends on attracting and building up the right talent. Muhammad Nasrullah has identified 7 challenges which he has an uphill task to overcome. 1. Talent Scout
THE GREATEST LOVE/HATE STORY The most wonderful love story is the story of Scheherazade. The king had been betrayed by his first wife and he proceeded to take his anger out on a new bride who after the first night would always be beheaded. Some 1,000 women suffered the same fate until a feisty young lady came along, despite protests by her father, and thought she could avoid this grizzly fate. PERFECT PLANNINGr
SUCCESS BLESSING B: Beginnings are the source and our source is the beginning of something great if we nurture it, letting it flow and develop. L: Live in the thoughts that will lift you up and watch your life be more meaningful, worthwhile and satisfactory. E: Everything has a source and the source of your good is within you. Empowering thoughts work wonders so seek those thoughts from within. S: See other people’s thoughts as great tributaries to your flowing source. See their thoughts as adding and benefiting your thoughts and flow.r
HEALTH B: Blessing your health and the health of your loved ones and all humanity is one of the best things you can do. Blessing yourself and others will make you feel better, and you will make a positive contribution to your well-being and those around you. L: Living it up or lazing away the weekend is well-deserved downtime to rejuvenate for the week ahead.r
Criticism is not nice. In fact, whenever we are criticized we feel it most deeply and more so if we think that criticism is unjustified. Muslims feel a personal insult whenever their beloved Prophet is insulted but Mike Ghouse says we should use such instances to learn more about our faith. Personification of Tolerance “Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) (PBUH) lived through criticism and Muslims can learn from his example,” says Mike Ghouse. Firmness of Faithr
BOOK KNOWLEDGE I once read a book about Islam that said God would have wanted people to pray more than five times a day. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upo Him), Jesus (Peace be upo Him) also prayed. Every religious tradition prays and we are supposed to pray to God or remember God when we pray. MERE MANr
1. Insurance man logic Rejection is a fact of life but the more people you ask the more likely you will get a yes. This is the approach of top insurance salespeople. Look for the yeses in life and accept that nos, also known as rejection is just the right of another to say no. Their no is because a yes is not consistent with what they think is good for them at this point of time. Is rejection realy so bad? You can’t get anyone to say yes unless you are willing to take the risk that they will say no. When you don’t ask, the answer is always no. 2. It’s Nothing Personal
BEACONS OF BEAUTY BLESSING B: Beautiful life, beautiful love – we can express it all. L: Lap up the beauty and love all around and say thanks and give thanks for all you see, feel and what touches you. E: Exceptional beauty abounds – etch the bounty of beauty upon your mind and soul and let it stain you with goodness. S: Stains of beauty upon the soul are the best stains to have – stain it so much that your soul of beauty is recognized by all. S: See the beauty in all situations because in 99 per cent of situations there is some beauty.
1. Fear is natural It is natural to have some fears, so face your fears and consider whether your fear has a good source or is actually irrational (a fear that we should dismiss or conquer). How to be fearless is one of the hardest things for most people to do. Recognizing and facing the fear is the first step you should take. Many people are fearful about wearing the hijab. Here are some thoughts about fear in general and about the hijab (head covering) and conservative clothes in particular. The points here will help you to be fearless and more successful. 2. The Fear that Killsr
SUCCESS WAITING TO HAPPEN There is a proverb that gives a warning: This is an accident waiting to happen. A dangerous situation has been created and it is inevitable that an accident will happen, sooner or later. Let’s reverse this idea and let us do all the things that will lead on to success. In other words, this is success waiting to happen. Very soon you will be successful or more successful.
Early Environmentr It is the dream of many Pakistanis to be doctors, engineers and accountants, a similar dream of legions across the Indian Subcontinent. Faizan Largari was no different – he dreamed of accountancy, but Muhammad Nasrullah was fascinated by the idea that you could create something out of nothing and dreamed of being a great inventor. Lego sets and science books purchased by his father fueled make-believe into reality.
LOVE OF LEARNINGrnB: Blessed with the love of learning is to be blessed with the a life-force that is the essence of life. L: Learning to love learning is the secret for a fulfilled and blessed life. Life-long learning is essential to keep up with inevitable changes and is the way to keep ahead of the competition. E: Engender Enthusiasm, Enjoyment and Excitement for learning, which will transform even the dullest task into something that is engaging and energizing.
HIGH DIVORCE RATE In some countries the divorce rate has gone beyond the 50 per cent mark. What has happened? What should have been living happily ever after has turned into a complete disaster. PEOPLE ARE RUNNING SCARED Droves of people are now too scared to marry and adultery and fornication have become widespread and socially normal. IS MARRIAGE THAT COMPLICATED? THAT DIFFICULT? Is marriage as complicated as modern society makes it seem? CONCEPTION OF MARRIAGEr
1. Words and attitudes define us. “Challenges, challenges, challenges. Difficulties, difficulties, difficulties … Avoid repeating such words; otherwise they will become the part of your life,” says Hammad Siddiqui, Deputy Country Director of the Center of International Private Enterprise (CIPE) Successful entrepreneurs utilize positive words to propel them further and higher. They uplift themselves to the higher realms – the realm of spirit. Entrepreneurs are the most spiritually connected people
Today I answered these 100 questions. I think it is important to answer these questions if you are thinking of marrying, or remarrying. If you would like to see my answers drop me an email at susanmckenzie2003@yahoo.co.uk. MARRIAGE 1. What is your concept of marriage? 2. Have you been married before? 3. Are you married now? 4. What are your expectations of marriage? 5. Why have you chosen me/other person as a potential spouse? 6. What are your goals in life? (long and short term) 7. Identify three things that you want to accomplish in the near future.
The Best Place in the Worldr Imagine the most idyllic place your imagination can savor and luxuriate in? Creating Utopiar Imagine this place where people are always so fair, honest, kind, nice, helpful, sweet and generous. This is what Utopia is. A Man For All Seasons Have you heard of Sir Thomas More? If not, I would like to introduce you to him. LONG LIVE UTOPIA Sir Thomas More, a lawyer by profession, made a contribution to the English language by coining the word Utopia when he wrote the book of the same name. WHAT IS UTOPIA?
WHEN IN A TIGHT CORNER PUT ON YOUR THINKING CAP! BAD FAITH Queen Shahrazad, exciting storyteller of the epic One Thousand and One Nights, related a series of stories about faith, trust and true friendship and our how our doubts can sour all relations. When lack of trust is stronger than faith then we make all manner of regretful actions. FISHY SURPRISE A poor fisherman had a bad fishing day. All he caught was a bottle. When the fisherman opened the brass bottle out came a genie. BOTTLED UP ANGERr
LOVE CREATES MIRACLES Where there is great love, there are always miracles, penned Willa Cather. LOVE IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS This is certainly true of Adeline Yeo who decided that to follow her true love she would paint from the heart – the core of our loving nature and of love. Adeline follows her true love and puts to work love in action. LOVE AND SKILL CREATE MASTERPIECES John Ruskin said – when love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece. JOU EY TO LOVEr
Princess Partyr Every weekend I teach more than 10 classes at different levels. One of my classes is an all-girls class at Primary 2 level (they are 8 years of age going on 9). They love princesses and wanted to have a princess party. After getting the parents permission we finally had our party. What is a Princess Party? This is my first time to attend a princess party and this is the format: Pure Privacyr As this is a private party, there were no cameras because royalty don’t like to be photographed when they are off duty. So there are no pics. Wallflowerr
SWITCH TO A POSITIVE VEIN B: Being positive all the time is easier said that done, but there are ways to be more positive. For example, the first step is to say you will be a positive blessing to yourself and the world and that you are determined to reap the benefits of making positivity your way of life. L: Life grows richer as you focus on ways to be more positive. E: Expedite your energy to work in a more positive way. Energy can be expedited and revved up if you add a dose of positivity.
Startups can fast track their brand by leveraging on net news outlets and by blogging. Indeed, all startups need to develop blogging expertise too - to generate a buzz of their own and to make it easier for bloggers to post news items, soundbites and articles. In other words, ensure your startup has in place dynamic social media management, the best brand and product awareness strategies, all feeding business development. Q: How do startups build brand and product awareness?
See the Lightr Rights and Wrongs We grow up as vulnerable kids in this world, not knowing any better, thinking our families, our society will teach us everything we need to know about what is right and what is wrong. Not Knowing Right from Wrong! We think they will teach us everything we need to know about life. They are the ones who we first rely on for guidance, but as we get older, and we start going through so many mistakes, we start to realize that our society, our families, are clearly CONFUSED about what is right and what is wrong! Seeing the Light
MODERN MINDSET Do you have a questioning mind? Most people have heard of the adage that curiosity killed the cat. This means if you question too much it could lead to bad results. WHEN CURIOSITY IS GOOD However, it is good to have a reasonable level of curiosity because one of the meanings of this word is eager to learn and we need to be eager to learn if we want to develop more. NEW DEFINITION Curiosity killed the cat is a proverb that has been around for over 500 years, but in the IT and Information age needs to be modified to suit the contemporary world. OUT WITH THE OLDr
Self-preservation or the greatest respect for othersr I live by the words of Shakespeare – that nothing is good or bad except thinking makes it so. I also believe we need to assess a situation from all angles and not jump to conclusions, or if we do take the time to reflect upon those conclusions. We need to let anger subside before we come to a conclusion. MANY MOTIVATIONS We may act for self-preservation and we may act out of fear or we may act out of respect. THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLDr
Lament of Loss “The time we had spent with someone. The time we know, we are never going to get back.” (Muhammad Mohsan Zaki) May the Blessings Ber Oh this is sad and so true - I wonder why we spend so much time hoping when the other has made it so clear that they don't want you. And yet we do. A very sad aspect of life, or perhaps it is to our credit if we have good thoughts and wish the best for them. If only if should become may the blessings be. Stages of Lossr In a relationship break down – there are a number of stages. Stage Oner
SHAKESPEAREAN WISDOM IN THE RIVER THAMES The Blessings in every situation – be blessed always. PRIVATE START Life started for me in a private road a stone’s throw away from the tidal wash of the great River Thames. PRIVATE ROADS IN ENGLAND Private roads usually have gates that are tightly closed, but at the entrance of this private oasis was Pitsea Methodist Church and everyone was invited. INHABITANTS